3 months

Isn't this little guy the cutest thing you have ever seen?  We are all totally smitten with him.  Just look at that cute smile!!  After the kids go to bed Miles and I get to enjoy Kenneth all on our own.  He smiles and talks to us so much because we are all his with nobody competing with him for attention.  We love our time with him and try to take advantage of it as much as possible. 

(classic happenings during tummy time)

-probably should have combed his hair though-

(mid-sentence - he is trying so hard to talk to us, it is so cute)

Birthday Boy

The night before Evan turned 5 I hugged him super tight and told him it was the last time I was going to be able to hug him when he was 4 years old.  He was so excited he was going to be 5 when he woke up!!  When he woke up I asked him if he felt any different ... of course he did, what a silly question!!  Personally, I was heartbroken that he was growing up - I would never be able to hug him at age 4.

My little man if 5 years old and ready to do just about anything.  He is such a good kid and such a joy to have around!  He loves to throw the ball around with Miles.  He loves Lego's and Transformers (he got all of Miles' old Transformer toys and has been loving them).  He is really starting to like school.  He LOVES playing Star Wars on the Wii.  He loves Layton Taco's and Frito Mix for dinner; go figure, they both have Pork n Beans in them.  He is so loving towards the family and always going out of his way for Anika and Kenneth.  I love how protective he is!

At school they had a birthday celebration for him and I stayed to watch.  It was such a fun experience to see the traditions that go on.  They sing so many songs and each individual came up to Evan and wished him well in the coming year (during 2 different songs).  It was so neat!!  A dragon puppet even came at the end with a sparkler coming out of his mouth.  After the sparkler went out he went around the room kissing the kids and then played hide n seek with them when he went 'home'.  It was really cute!  They really take birthday's serious here, I was there for 2 hours.  It wasn't some short song and treat, it was almost the entire morning.  Evan felt so special!!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

On Saturday the 14th of Jan. we decided to show Anika Cinderella's castle.  Of course, she was so excited!  She also wanted to see Sleeping Beauty's castle so we told her we were going to see that one too.  Why not?  Hohenschwangau could be Sleeping Beauty's and Neuschwanstein could be Cinderella's.  Or is it the other way around?

We drove the 3-4 hours from our house to the Castles.  Unfortunately, we got a late start.  When we got there we got our tickets to tour both castles but knew we wouldn't have time on the way home to stop by this awesome Rococo-style church in Wieskirche (HERE) before it closed.  I was seriously disappointed - I honestly didn't realize how HARD it is to travel with 5 kids.  I'm serious!!  What should have taken us 2 or 3 hours here took us 5.  FIVE HOURS!!  And it wasn't an easy 5 hours; it was hard!  I came home all committed to build my muscles back because I was so physically drained from carrying Kenneth ALL DAY.  (We have come to the conclusion that traveling with a stroller is a lot more work than it is worth.  We use are Ergo carriers everywhere.)  I didn't talk much on the way home I was so tired, disappointed, and frustrated.  It's a good thing we are here for 3 years - it's going to take us that much time to 'scratch' the surface of Europe.

Anyway on with the castles ...
Hohenschwangau was the castle King Ludwig grew up in and lived in while he was having Neuschwanstein built.  The tours were really interesting and we tried to pick out 1 or 2 really interesting facts to focus on for the kids with each room we went into.  I think Emi and Paige 'got' it, not quite sure about Evan.  Anika made a friend.  This little 'friend' was SO LOUD and we were constantly trying to separate them during the first tour of Hohenschwangau.  On the second tour she was giddy to see her friend again and was skipping around full of happiness.  They were holding hands and hugging and giggling the entire tour.  It was rather sad to separate them to go home.

(The kids in front of the entrance of Neuschwanstein)

(The Fam in front of the Neuschwanstein Castle)

(A close-up of our family so you can see Anika's face.  What in the world?  What kind of face is that?  I guess Anika got the prize for ruining this particular family picture (there is always one in each family).  When Miles and I saw this we couldn't stop laughing, I was crying I was laughing so hard.  That is one awesome facial expression!!)

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